Krypton's Last Son, Earth's First Savior
by Zortech
Summary: Part I of a reimagining of the Superman story. Different character traits and a new costume lend to a new Kryptonian on Earth.


SUPERMAN: THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON  
PART I  
  
By Zortech  
Phantom_150@hotmail.com  
Started on January 26, 2000  
  
  
  
Space. So vast. Empty. Quiet.  
Not here, though.  
Civilization thrives as it has for thousands of centuries.  
Krypton.  
  
Passing through the atmosphere, buildings jut into the sky. Cities stretch for miles in every direction. Majestic rivers flow into great oceans. There is a particular building, taller than the rest, which has an air of significance.  
  
The Kryptonian Council.  
  
A man stands before an assembly, his back turned. On his back tunic is a familiar symbol: The S-Shield. He points to a computer screen. It shows the world as it is, then the planet explodes. The words CATACLYSM appear on the screen. The assembly points to the man to leave. He walks out.  
  
He goes back to his home. His wife runs to him. It looks as if she's pleading to him. He walks past her. He goes to a computer station and initiates the engines on a rocket. The wife clings to him. The rocket lifts off and disappears. Earthquakes rumble the planet. The husband and wife take one last look at each other and kiss one last time. Then the fire consumes them.  
  
Krypton dies.  
  
The rocket hurtles toward a planet. Blue. Beautiful.  
  
Earth.  
  
The rocket flies through the sky like a meteor. It crashes into the frozen north. The rocket rights itself. Then an object inside the spacecraft drops out into the snow. It glows bright. It plants several metallic arms into the ground. The area rumbles and groans. Then snow flies up into the shapes of walls. It surrounds the rocket and builds upward. It closes with a roof of crystal. The rocket sits inside the center of the building. The inside of the structure is covered with metal and computers. A small, strange floating robot comes over to the rocket. The hatch opens.  
  
Inside is a baby.  
  
The robot lifts the baby and takes it to a room. There it is put inside a metallic egg. The robot programs codes into the computer and types in ADAPT. The robot sits and waits.  
  
  
Many years later.  
  
A large city. People crowd the streets. Cars bustle around. Police direct traffic.   
  
Above the streets.  
  
"Come on, shoot 'em!" Terrorists open fire on the police below. A car explodes. People run in fear.  
  
Suddenly, a blur of motion.  
A blue and crimson streak flies up the building.  
The guns are ripped to pieces in the criminal's hands.  
The blur drops them next to the police.  
An angel.  
Elsewhere, another problem. A car pileup on the bridge. A car falls off the side.  
  
The blur again.  
  
It lifts the car up then zooms off.  
  
The bystanders are amazed.  
  
"Hey, look! Up...up in..."  
  
"The sky! It's a giant bird!"  
  
"No, it's a rescue plane!"  
  
"No, look closer! It's a man...a...a Superman!"  
  
The name sends a feeling of fear and happiness throughout the crowd.  
  
The angel had a name.  
  
Superman.  
  
  
Daily Planet, Metropolis.  
Office of editor Perry White.  
  
"Lane! Get in here!" the editor yells out to a young female reporter.  
  
She quickly walks over to him and follows him into his office.  
  
"Lois, get all you can about this angel story."  
  
"Angel? What angel?"  
  
"The angel," says Perry, "that people have been seeing all week!"  
  
"Oh, you mean the 'angel' that's been saving people here and there." Lois says. "Sorry, Chief, I don't do 'angels'."  
  
"You do now," Perry says with a stern look on his face.  
  
Lois Lane leaves the office angrily.  
  
  
Frozen northern wastes.  
  
A giant mountain of snow rises above the rest.  
It has a giant golden slab on the front, yet it is puny compared to the rest of the large structure.  
  
Inside.  
  
A familiar robot floats through the many corridors of the building.  
  
It approaches a floating chair with a man sitting in it.  
  
He is draped with his dark crimson cape. His clothes are dark blue.  
  
The angel.  
  
"Are you feeling well, Sir?" it asks.  
  
He doesn't answer.  
  
"Are you feeling well, Sir?" it repeats.  
  
He finally answers.  
"K, I wish to leave."  
  
The robot is silent for a moment, then speaks again.  
  
"Which wing, Sir? Or the HoloRoom?"  
  
His eyes close and His face turns to slight anger.  
  
"No, you don't understand. I wish to leave the Fortress."  
  
The robot responds with "But...my teachings to you...from your father?"  
  
"I don't care, K. I have studied the earthlings well. They live with great joy..."  
  
"And despair."   
  
"I don't care, K. I wish to live like them."  
  
"I am sorry Kal-El, but your father..."  
  
"MY FATHER IS DEAD!"  
  
They both fall silent.  
  
"I will not live the rest of my days in this frozen tribute to a planet lost...because of her people's actions. I am leaving."  
  
"Very well. You do know that they will fear you. It will not be easy for you."  
  
"I don't plan to live my entire life as a god. I want to experience life like they do."  
  
"How, Kal-El? How?"  
  
"I will make a new name for myself. A human name. I will hide my true self under that name. I will look like them..."  
  
"You will never BE one, though."  
  
Although He does not respond, he understands. And accepts.  
  
  
  
Metropolis.  
One year later.  
  
'...And so, on this anniversary of the day a super being arrived one year ago, many people watch and wait to see if their "angel" will return.'  
  
Lois Lane finishes her story on her computer at the Daily Planet.  
As she said in her last paragraph, Superman had been gone one year.  
  
Outside the window behind her, a blue and red blur appears and disappears.  
  
Ten feet away, a man in a casual suit and glasses walks in.  
  
He walks to an empty desk and begins taking things out of a bag.  
  
A nameplate is the first to be put out.  
  
Kent, Clark.  
  
Lois eyes him and walks over to him.  
  
"Excuse me if I sound rude, but who are you?" she asks.  
  
He nods to the nameplate.  
  
"Oh! Hello Mr. Kent."  
  
He smiles and holds out his hand.  
  
"And you are...?"  
  
"Lois. Lois Lane."  
  
They shake hands.  
  
"Just hired yesterday?" she asks.  
  
"Yes. I..."  
  
Perry White yells from his office, interrupting Kent.  
  
"Fire at the church on 45th street set by a gang! Get on it! Move!"  
  
Several reporters rush to the doors.  
  
Clark takes an empty staircase down.  
  
His image turns into a blur and bursts out the doors.  
  
  
The church on 45th street.  
  
A fire blazes and consumes most of the building.  
  
Cries from people inside are barely heard over the crackling and hissing of the flames.  
The firefighters haven't arrived yet.  
  
Nobody can do anything.  
  
Except Him.  
  
A person in the crowd sees Him.  
  
"Look! Look...up there in the sky!"  
  
Others see him also.  
  
"It's him! The angel!"  
  
"The savior!"  
  
"Superman!"  
  
Although He shows no reaction to the people crying out His name, He feels wonderful inside.   
  
This is the way it should be for Him.  
  
  
THE BEGINNING.  
  



End file.
